Monday Business | PREVIEW

Unisys May Be Next for Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom appeared poised to fortify its information technology activities after weekend reports that it that seeks to add Unisys Corp. to its takeover list after winning the bid for Debis Systemhaus, the information technology unit of auto maker DaimlerChrysler, according to German magazine Focus. A spokesman for DT declined to comment Sunday on the report, and no Unisys spokesman was reachable for comment. In the summary of an article to appear today, Focus said Telekom CEO Ron Sommer wants to buy Unisys, which has a market capitalization of $8.3 billion, then seek in two years to float parts of Telekom's beefed-up information technology systems unit. Focus also said Telekom would pay about $10 billion for a 51% stake in Debis in a move to boost its data communication and system solutions business areas. The acquisition of Unisys and Debis would fit Telekom's strategy of expanding on four fronts--wireless and fixed-line telecommunications, Internet services and information systems. Telekom, which has a market capitalization of $264.6 billion, already has a cooperation agreement with Unisys. Telekom has reportedly been on an acquisition prowl in both the United States and Europe, highlighted by the recent failure of talks to acquire Qwest Communications International Inc. and US West Inc. earlier this month.